Savage Force: Power Rangers Jungle Fury
by Spirit Reader
Summary: Long ago, ancient evil ruled the world with an iron fist, leaving mankind on the brink of extinction. Fortunately though, a brave and powerful warrior managed to seal the evil away thanks to the power of the Animal Spirits. Now, thousands of years later, the evil has been unleashed and a new team of heroes must band together to stop him. They are...Power Rangers Jungle Fury!
1. Prologue

**Savage Force: Power Rangers Jungle Fury**

Fan Fiction by: **Spirit Reader and Serpentdragon**

Power Rangers original creator: **Haim Saban**

 _ **Prologue**_

In the beginning, there was nothing but death and destruction. For over 10,000 years, the world has been in a constant state of war as powerful monsters roamed the land, destroying anything and anyone that they happened to come across. Eventually, things were becoming so chaotic that the human race was practically brought to the brink of extinction. It was a bloodbath, pure and simple, and the cause of all of this was due to the machinations of one powerful entity. Its name…was Dai Shi.

Dai Shi was considered to be the strongest creature to ever exist in the world. A mere twitch of its muscles is enough to blow away several mountain tops while one blast of its fiery breath was powerful enough to metal even the hardest of substances with ease. It's because of the strength that Dai Shi possessed that allowed him to amass a large number of followers, all of whom were willing to lay die their lives for him and his beliefs. For them, Dai Shi was God, one to be both respected and feared.

As time passed by and Dai Shi continued to grow in power, it became clear to him that there was thing that needed to be taken care of before he could obtain complete and total control of the world. That something was the destruction of each and every human being. Dai Shi despised humans, believing them to be weak and cowardly. It's because of that reasoning that he found it completely ridiculous that animals, a far stronger and superior class of being, playing second fiddle to creatures who were less than the dirt that they walked on. Because of that, he decided that the time had come for animals to take their rightful place as the dominate creatures on the planet and thus launched an all-out attack on the humans.

The initial battle between the two sides was nothing more than a complete and utter annihilation. Dai Shi and his forces were strong and the humans were weak. All the later could do was run and hide as the army of powerful monsters hunted them down. Even when some of the most prominent figures of the world offered themselves as a sacrifice in order to spear everyone else, Dai Shi killed them before moving on towards the rest. Soon, in almost no time at all, Dai Shi's control over the world was practically complete as the remaining few humans that were still alive were forced into hiding. To them, they would rather live in disgrace than to die for nothing. It was a dark time for the human race and for a while, it seemed like there was nothing anybody could do to stop Dai Shi and his forces. However, even in the deepest depths of darkness, a light can always find its way through. For the humans, that light came in the form of a man known simply as Asura.

Ever since he was a little boy, Asura had a strong connection with the animals. Unlike most people, who considered them something to be feared, he believed that they were simply understood. It's because of that belief that he found himself not being afraid of them. He wanted to get to know them, be friends with them, and love them. Other humans found Asura to be crazy, but the little boy didn't care. He believed in what he was doing from the bottom of his heart and vowed one day to stop the needless fighting between humans and animals.

As for the animals that Asura got to become friends with, all of them were simply amazed by the kindness exhibited by this young boy. Not only did he not fear them, but he also treated them the way any creature should be treated, with respect. This wasn't like the way other humans treated them at all. It also wasn't the way Dai Shi treated them. The reason behind that is because Dai Shi simply used the reasoning of wanting to prove the superiority of the animal species as an excuse. In truth, all he wanted was power and he was even willing to destroy his most faithful followers in order to get it.

While many animals believed in this resolve and followed Dai Shi regardless, others clearly did not. Those few believed in the same thing Asura did, that humans and animals can get along and live together in harmony. For them, that was a much better world than the one Dai Shi was trying to create. So, it's for that reason alone that the strongest of those peaceful animals made their way towards Asura, informing him of their plight and willing to teach him the means to end this pointless conflict.

Upon hearing their request, Asura immediately agreed to help the animals and thus spent the next few decades of his life honing himself both physically and spiritually. Eventually, as he continued to grow in strength, lessons that Asura was receiving from his animal friends started to bear fruit. The youth's strong connection with the animal world allowed him to develop a powerful Animal Spirit from within his body. This spirit manifested itself in the form of a Red Tiger and it was considered to be the strongest of any known Animal Spirit. With its power, Asura believed that there was a chance to stop Dai Shi and end his pointless attack. However, there was still one last thing that needed to be done first and Asura knew what it was.

So, after mastering the power of his Animal Spirit, Asura made his way towards the few humans who also believed that animals and humans could work together in harmony. He began teaching them the same lessons that the animals first taught him. With his help, Asura watched as his comrades began manifested Animal Spirits of their very own. The most powerful of who were those who carried the spirits of the Blue Jaguar, Yellow Cheetah, Violet Wolf, and White Rhino. With their powers combined, along with Asura's and his Red Tiger Spirit, they were able to obtain the power needed to give humanity a fighting chance.

At first, when Asura and his group first made their presence felt against the massive army of monsters, Dai Shi simply laughed at them. He found it completely inconceivable that humans, with their weak and frail bodies, could possible amass the strength needed to challenge him and his army. However, it was that arrogance of Dai Shi's that led to his first ever defeat. With the power of their Animal Spirits, Asura and his time were able to repel Dai Shi's forces, proving their strength to the overlord. It was that action on that particular day that began the conflict that would become known as…the Beast War.

During the war, Asura and Dai Shi's forces fought day in and day out, neither side willing to give an inch. Both sides knew that this was a war to would decide the fate of the entire world and they had every intention of coming out the victor. In order make sure that their side would be the one who comes out victorious, Dai Shi granted more power to his armies, granting them knew abilities that would allow them to turn the battle back into their favor. As for Asura, he created a school devoted to the practice of training humans to properly control and mature their Animal Spirits. This school became known as Pai Zhua, otherwise known as the Order of the Claw.

Eventually, as the years passed by and the conflict of the Beast War continued to grow more and more intense, it was becoming clear that the Order of the Claw were on their last leg. For every victory that they managed to obtain, they would end suffering 3 more defeats. It was soon reaching the point that even if they manage to produce more fighters, the battle would ultimately end in defeat. All the higher ups believed this to be true, but more importantly, Dai Shi knew it to be true as well.

When saw that his victory was at hand, the overlord decided to launch one devastating attack on the Order. This battle was so horrific and no one could go anywhere without seeing a puddle of blood and bones. Even though the Order was able to somehow survive this battle, most of their members were gone and they knew that if Dai Shi launched one more attack against them, it would be end of the human race.

It was during this moment in his life, that Asura found himself questioning everything he ever stood for. All he wanted to do was to bring peace to both humans and animals. He believed that by establishing the Order of the Claw and challenging Dai Shi was the means of doing this. However, as he watched more and more of his love ones die right in front of his eyes, Asura's faith in his cause began to disappear. Then, after Dai Shi killed both his wife and his son, Asura quickly found himself in the depths of despair. He was about to give up, but was at that moment that he heard someone calling out to him.

 _Asura…is this the end for you? Are you going to give up now…after coming so far?_

Upon hearing the voice that was calling out to him, Asura was left completely flabbergasted. The voice seemed so familiar to him, but he knew that he had never heard it before. He started questioning himself, wondering if he was going insane. But, upon looking deep inside himself, it became clear to him who speaking to him.

The voice that he was hearing was none other than his Red Tiger Spirit. Because he was in tone with the spirit for so long, the connection between it and Asura became strong enough for the master to finally hear the spirit's voice. It was amazing, if he hadn't seen it there would be no way he would've believed it. Asura had a lot questions for his spirit, but the Red Tiger wasn't in the mood for them. All it wanted was to hear Asura's answer. Would he give up and let Dai Shi take over the world…or would he fight?

"I…I don't know…" Asura told his partner. "I don't want to give…but how am I suppose to win if my opponent's stronger than me?"

 _It is not the strongest opponent who wins…but the strongest will._

"The strongest will…?" Asura was confused, didn't know what the Red Tiger meant. "What are you talking about…what does that even mean?"

The Red Tiger didn't say anything. If Asura couldn't understand the meaning behind its words, then all the battles that they went through together was pointless. It then decided to leave, but before it did, the powerful spirit imparted these final words to its partner.

 _You know what you have to do, Asura…but you must make a decision now._

Once that was said, the Red Tiger Spirit faded from Asura's consciousness, leaving him alone to ponder everything that it said to him. With nothing but his shadow to accompany him, Asura thought long and hard, but wasn't able to come up with any real answers. Soon enough, he started to believe that all his Animal Spirit did was just speaking nonsense. This frustrated Asura to know end, so much so that he soon found himself leaving the Order of the Claw, running off in an unknown direction.

Asura ran. He ran and ran and kept on running. Eventually, he found himself falling off a cliff and the rockslide that resulted from that caused him to be trapped under a large number of heavy boulders. He struggled to free himself from them, but he simply wasn't able to. Soon enough, things reached the point where Asura began resigning him to death. However, before he could let himself die, something happened to Asura.

For some reason, he started thinking about all of his friends and loved ones. The image of their smiling facing each appeared within his mind, one after the other. The powerful warrior couldn't understand why this was happening. It didn't make any sense. But, for some strange reason, he could feel a powerful surge of strength build up inside of him. Somehow, just thinking about his friends was giving him strength and Asura soon found himself trying to break free from his imprisonment. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live on for his loved ones, those who gone and those were still here. It was at that realization that he finally realized what the Red Tiger Spirit was telling him.

 _It is not the strongest opponent who wins…but the strongest will._

In life, there is always going to be obstacles to get in the way of what you want. This applies to every living creature, from plants, animals, and even humans. There are going to be times in which you want to give up, believing that there's nothing you can do. However, it's when you start thinking that you truly lose. Strength can only get you so far. You must have the will and the heart to go along with that strength. Only then could one be able to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of their goals.

That was what Asura realized as he struggled to free him. He knew that if he died here, not only would everything he did up to this point would've been for nothing, but everything his friends had to fight and sacrificed for would've been pointless as well. Asura didn't want that. Even if he lost to Dai Shi in end, he couldn't stop fighting, not for himself and especially not for the people he cared about. It's through this strong resolve, that Asura managed to channel his Animal Spirit to the very limit, allowing him to break free from his confinement. After that, he began making his way to the Order of the Claw, preparing himself for what he believed to be the final battle.

When Asura finally made it back to the Order, all of the members who had survived Dai Shi's recent attack were amazed at how much their leader had changed. Just the other day, his eyes were filled with dread, but now their filled with hope. Seeing him like this and watching him encourage everyone to fight gave them all the strength they needed to stand up and keep going. With that, they worked together with their leader in order to come up with a plan good enough to stop Dai Shi and end his horror.

Soon enough, after some careful consideration and planning, the Order was able to formulate a plan that could allow them to finally achieve victory. So, with the help of their finest craftsman and spiritual shamans, they were able to construct a powerful magic box, one strong enough to contain any creature. If the Order of the Claw managed to weaken Dai Shi to such an extent, the power from the box would suck him inside, trapping the overlord for all time. It was a risky plan and the chances of success were very slim, but with the way things were now, they had no choice but to give it shot. So, after spending one night with their loved ones and preparing themselves for what was ahead, Asura and his strongest warriors left to confront Dai Shi.

Upon reaching his liar, the final battle of the Beast War finally got underway. Dai Shi's forces fought strong, but Asura and his side refused to let that stop them. This was their last chance. If they fall here, then the human race is done for. With that in mind, the Pai Zhua members channeled their Animal Spirits to the brink, utilizing their strength in order to fight back against their oppressors. Eventually, it soon reached the point in which both sides were left completely exhausted and the only ones left who could fight was Asura and Dai Shi. Both knew that this war began with the two of them and it's through them that the war would end.

The battle between the two of them was intense. Mountains were destroyed and the landscape around them began to crumble by the sheer force of their attacks. It was an incredible battle, one the lasted for 7 days and 6 nights. For a while, it seemed like their conflict would last forever. However, on the 7th and final night of their battle, it was becoming clear to everyone that Dai Shi was on the verge of victory.

No matter how hard he fought or what techniques he used, all of Asura's attacks were unable to bring down his massive opponent. Not only that, but as the battle waged on, it seemed like Dai Shi was going in strength while Asura was beginning to lose strength. The Order couldn't believe what they were seeing. For the longest time, they've been fighting Dai Shi, trying their best to overcome him and save the world and they all knew that it was Asura that put them on that path. But now, right before their eyes, the beloved leader was losing and there was nothing that they could do to stop it.

Soon enough, after playing around with his opponent for a while, Dai Shi was becoming bored with this battle and decided to put an end to it. To that end, grabbed Asura with one of its massive claws and held him high in the air. The overlord then prepared himself to devour his opponent in the same way he devoured both his wife and son. However, before he could do so, Dai Shi decided to taunt his hated foe one last time.

"Do you see now, human?" Dai Shi asked as he started crushing Asura. "You never had a chance of defeating me! All you and your pathetic species has done is delay the inevitable. Humans never had to strength to stop me and they never will. Now…I will kill you and prove once and for all my superiority over all of you!"

Dai Shi squeezed Asura one more time, wanting him to suffer before he finally put an end to him. He then prepared him to devour the powerful human and finally put an end to the Beast War. However, just before the overlord could do so, he noticed that Asura was smiling to himself. Dai Shi was about to question Asura about this, but stopped when he saw a bright and powerful red aura begin to surround the human.

"It…it is not the strongest…opponent who wins…" Asura spoke as the aura began to intensify. "But…THE STRONGEST WILL!"

At the very moment he said that, Asura's body erupted from the power of this red aura, causing Dai Shi to let go of him and step back. The overlord looked on in disbelief, watching as the aura surrounding Asura began to take shape. Somehow, either by luck or choice, Asura was able to channel his Animal Spirit to the highest level possible. As a result, the powerful warrior managed to transform himself into a giant ethereal version of his Red Tiger Spirit. Although he was shocked by this development, Asura knew what he had to do and thus charged towards Dai Shi one last time.

With this new power, Asura was finally able to take control of the battle and push Dai Shi back. Each of his attack managed to caused massive damage to the overlord, something that shocked all of Dai Shi's followers. Seeing their master on the brink was something they couldn't comprehend, causing them to lose morale. When the other Pai Zhua members saw this, they knew that they had to act now. To that end, each of them channeled their Animal Spirits and together, they were able to vanquish the evil army.

Back at the main battle, it was becoming clear that Asura was on the verge of victory and was prepared to finish Dai Shi off. Not wanting to lose to a bunch of humans, Dai Shi threw himself at Asura, intending to destroy him with one final attack. However, Asura saw this move coming and was able to counter it with his ultimate attack, a beam of spirit energy so intense that it had the power to part the clouds in the sky. When Dai Shi got struck by this blast, he was sent flying through several mountains, rendering him completely exhausted.

When Asura saw this, he realized that now was his chance to finish this. With that, he grabbed the magical box that he and his allies constructed and proceeded to open it. Once he did, a powerful surge of light shot out from it and struck Dai Shi. The light from the box then began to pull Dai Shi into it. Although the overlord tried his best to overcome the power of the box, his battle with Asura simply left him to weak. Because of that, Dai Shi couldn't fight back and thus wasn't able to do anything. But, just before he was trapped inside the box, the overlord gave Asura a final warning.

"This…is not the end!" He yelled. "I swear, even if it takes an eternity, I will return and finish what I started! Just you wait…"

Once that was said, Dai Shi was sucked completely inside the box and Asura closed the lid, trapping the overlord inside. Finally, it was over. Dai Shi was defeated and his army was vanquished. The world was finally at peace. This realization brought smiles to those surviving member of the Order of the Claw as they could now live their lives free from the fear of Dai Shi. Unfortunately, despite their victory, the price they had to pay was deep. A lot of their friends died, but none more important than one certain individual.

To the horror of the Order, all of them watched as Asura suddenly transformed back to normal and crashed on the hard ground. When they made their way to him, they all noticed that he was extremely weak and was on the verge of death. By reaching the highest level of his Animal Spirit, Asura expended all of his body energy. As a result, he no longer had the strength to keep going. His efforts allowed him to save the world from Dai Shi, but it ultimately cost him his life as a result.

Knowing his time was at an end, Asura used what little strength he had left to impart a final request to his comrades. Even though they were able to defeat Dai Shi and trap him inside the box, there was always a chance that he could break free one day. It's because of that lingering threat that his tasked his friends with the responsibility of maintaining the Order of the Claw. With it still around, the world could always be protected from evil and could never again return to plague it.

The Pai Zhua members, with tears running down their faces, happily agreed to fulfill the final request of their friend. After everything that Asura had done for them, it was the least that they could do. Upon hearing that, Asura let out a small smile and thanked all of his comrades for everything that they've done. He then closed his eyes and took his last breath before speaking his final words.

"Farewell…my friends…" He said. "Know that…my Tiger…Spirit and…I will always…be…with…you."

With that, Asura passed and the world lost its greatest hero. After making sure that he had a proper burial, the Order of the Claw began fulfilling the final request of their friend and began watching over the box that contained Dai Shi. At the same time, other members continued the teachings of the school, increasing the number of members until they were far greater than they were at the start of the devastating Beast War. Asura's life and death taught all of them a valuable lesson and the Order all vowed to never forget it, no matter how much time passed.

10,000 years later, in the present day, the world has entered a state of peace. The human race was finally able to get back on their feet and once again become the dominant species on the planet. However, unlike in the past, they were able to learn from their mistakes. Although a small fraction of them still treat other unkindly and with prejudice, almost everyone else strove to preserve peace in the world, knowing from the bottom of their hearts that was the right thing to do.

However, even if the world is in an era of peace and prosperity, there are still those who wish to conquer the Earth for their own twisted and evil desires. As a result, several battles, some just as devastating as the Beast War took place and lives were lost. Fortunately, a group of certain individuals stepped up in order to preserve the balance of the world. Through their combined efforts, the world was saved over and over again and the peace humanity was able to establish remained. Those individuals became known to the general public as…the Power Rangers.

Over the years, the Power Rangers have formed several different teams, each of which specializing in their own particular style of combat. This included advanced martial arts, technological weaponry, and even magic. However, despite splitting up and even using different methods, every Ranger team believed in the goal of keeping the world safe from harm. It was the promise that they made to themselves and they swore to fulfill it, no matter what the cost to themselves.

As for the Order of the Claw, they continue to follow Asura's last order by watching over Dai Shi these last 10,000 years. However, because they didn't want to stir up the populace, they agreed to keep their existence as secret. As a result, the world soon began to forget them entirely. Not even the stories of their epic battles managed to survive the passing of time. Even when the Earth was under attack by evil, the Order didn't step up and simply let the Power Rangers handle those threats. They believed that the Rangers held the beliefs of the Order and thus allowed them to protect the world while they continued their mission.

This was the way things were in the world for a long time, there was peace and stability. However, even though he was sealed, Dai Shi was still alive, still waiting for the day that he could break free…and get his revenge against humanity.

 _I will return!_


	2. Chapter 1 (The Story's Beginning)

**Savage Force: Power Rangers Jungle Fury**

Fan Fiction by: **Spirit Reader and Serpentdragon**

Power Rangers original creator: **Haim Saban**

 **Chapter 1:** _A Savage Beginning – Part 1_

* * *

"Yes! Keep up the good work! Harness the power of your Animal Spirits!"

Those were the words that could be heard all throughout a large temple that positioned in the middle of a forest in Southeast Asia. Ever since the powerful and evil entity known as Dai Shi was sealed away thousands of years ago the Pai Zhua, the Order of the Claw, have set up many different temples throughout the world, using them to train the next generation of Pai Zhua Masters. Although many years have passed since Dai Shi was sealed, the Order has made it an effort to be prepared, just in case his evil was ever to see the light of day again. To that end, the current Pai Zhua Masters train their students to the brink, working hard to unlock their full potential.

As the hot and bright sun shined down all throughout the temple, most of the students were busy sparring with one another, using all of their skills to try and best one another. Looking on intently was several Pai Zhua Masters, all of them were intrigued by the current skill level of their students. From what they could tell, most of them were making considerable progress; their fighting techniques were very precise and powerful. However, out of all the students that were training, there were 3 that the Masters had their eyes on the most.

The first of these three students was Ryan Cross, a 19-year-old young man of African American descent. As he fought several students at once, Ryan used his incredible skills to block all of their attacks without any real effort. Not only that, but the young man was also able to counter all of their moves with swift and powerful moves of his own. It was an incredible sight and as several students look on in amazement, all of them realized the reason why Ryan was one of the most talented students in the Order. However, that wasn't the only amazing thing about him that they noticed.

As he continued to fight off several more attackers, Ryan started gathering a large amount of energy from within his body. When the energy that he was building up reached a certain point, everyone watched as a dark blue aura was beginning to surround his body. Soon, Ryan unleashed this aura onto his opponents and the Pai Zhua Masters all looked on in approval as the aura took the form of a giant blue jaguar. All the of the masters knew that it was the Blue Jaguar Spirit, one of the Legendary Animal Spirits that fought with the original Pai Zhua Master, Asura and his powerful Red Tiger Spirit.

With the help of his the Blue Jaguar Spirit, Ryan was able to take down all of his opponents at once and win the battle without any problem at all. Upon achieving victory, the Jaguar Spirit swiftly returned to Ryan's body and the young man began making his way towards another section of the temple. As he did, the Pai Zhua Masters all looked at one another for a moment before each of them nodded their heads in approval. They then turned their attention towards another one of the fights that were taking place.

Similar to Ryan's fight, most of the students that were participating were trying to take down a single opponent. This opponent was a beautiful young woman of Caucasian descent named Alexis Hampton. She had long and wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. During her fight, Alexis was able to skillfully outmaneuver her opponents with her incredible speed and flexibility. Unlike Ryan, who traditionally uses technique to defeat his opponents, Alexis uses her speed to dodge her opponents, causing them to expend more of their energy trying to get her.

Soon, as the fight continued and all of Alexis' opponents were quickly beginning to lose all of their strength, the young woman decided to end things. To that end, she quickly started to gather energy from within her body, causing a bright yellow aura to surround her. When she unleashed it onto her opponents, the aura took the shape of a yellow cheetah, which proceeded to knock her opponents back. This was none other than the Yellow Cheetah Spirit, another one of the Legendary Animal Spirits.

Upon achieving victory, Alexis proceeded to return her Animal Spirit back into her body before walking over towards her opponents. She then gave each of them a friendly smiled and bowed at them, showing respect for their skills despite the fact that they lost to her. Once she did that, Alexis left the area and began making her way somewhere else. As she did so, the Pai Zhua Masters all looked at her with smiles on their faces, greatly pleased with her level of progress as well.

Eventually, Alexis met up with Ryan and two of them started walking with one another as they made their way through the temple's training area. The two of them are extremely close, having known each other ever since they were children. Although Ryan was known to be cold and calculating individual who seemed hard to approach, Alexis wasn't afraid of at all and was usually the one who always tried to get him to open up to others. Even if her efforts weren't as successful as she would've liked, it was Alexis' never give up attitude that really stuck with her friend, which Ryan respected.

Soon, after the two of them continued walking around for a while, both Ryan and Alexis soon noticed something going on in the distance. A large number of students were seen gathering around in a single place. Not only that, but they also saw several student being thrown the air and landing hard on the ground. Upon seeing that, the two of them instantly knew what was going on and immediately made their way over to the scene. Once they arrived, they looked on as another match was taking place.

During this contest, a group of about a dozen students all gather together and completely got on top of another student. At first, it seemed like they managed to take this particular student down, but they would quickly realize that they were wrong. In what seemed like an instant, a powerful black aura started to emerge from underneath the other students. The power of this aura quickly sent them all flying, leaving only one student standing. This student was Kyoji Sakamoto and he was the one who produced that powerful black aura.

Standing at 6'4 and 23-years-old, Kyoji Sakamoto was a young man of Japanese descent with long black hair and grey eyes. He had a powerful build to him, which was extremely useful when overpowering multiple fighters at once. Not only that, but Kyoji was also incredibly swift as he managed to get on top of his opponents in almost an instant. It was an incredible sight to see and as both Ryan and Alexis looked on the two of them were reminded why Kyoji was considered to be the best student here.

Soon, as the battle was quickly reaching its end, Kyoji decided to finish off his opponents with one last attack. To that end, his body suddenly exploded with a powerful black aura that soon began to take the shape of a massive black lion. Like with Ryan and Alexis, this was another one of the Legendary Animal Spirits, the Black Lion, and Kyoji used it to great effect. With just one motion of his arm, Kyoji command the Black Lion to attack the other students, sending them all flying. With them out of the picture, Kyoji was declared the winner, much to the excitement to all the other students were watching.

As Kyoji was basking in the praise of all the other students, the Masters were busy discussing about his skills. Even though he's been in the order for only 10 years, Kyoji has reached heights that no other student has reached in that same amount of time. Not only that, but his skills were nearly on par with their own. It was truly an amazing sight to behold and all of them knew that Kyoji's skills will only continue to improve as time passed by.

"That boy is nothing short than a natural," Said Master Shi. "It's no wonder that he's able to wield the Black Lion."

"Agreed," Master Haruka followed. "But let's not forget about young Ryan and Alexis. Their skills are just as impressive. I truly believe that three of them are the ones we're looking for."

"Yes, they are the cream of the crop," Master Finn agreed. "Unlike one particular student we have…"

The three Masters turned their focus to another section of the temple, where another group of young students were training. These students were the Cubs, those who were at the beginner level. Although most of them were rather young, there were some who were a bit older. Normally, most of the Cubs showed great potential, despite their age or inexperience. However, there was one student who was completely lacking in everything he did. His name was Yusuke Sakamoto and he was Kyoji's Sakamoto's younger brother.

Unlike his big brother, whose hair was long and has dark grey eyes, Yusuke had short spiky black hair and blue eyes. At a mere 17 years of age, the young man wasn't the tallest individual as he only stood at around 5'5 inches tall. However, he was the oldest amongst the Cubs, with the only other one coming close to his age being 15-years-old. To make matters worse, out of all the students currently training at this temple, Yusuke had the reputation of being the weakest and his skill surely did prove it.

Despite the fact that he was Kyoji's brother and has been training within the Order for almost the same amount of time, Yusuke's fighting skills didn't really amount to amount. He was easily outclassed by all of the other students, even those who are much younger than himself. Not only that, but while those who were around his age were beginning to learn how harness their respective Animal Spirits, Yusuke hasn't been able too. Not only that, but he doesn't even know what his Animal Spirit is, which is something most discover when they are young.

As the three Masters continued to survey the Cubs, all of them observed Yusuke with disappointing looks on their faces. All three of them, along with the opinion of many other Masters, believed that this young man brings much shame to the order. Although he is very kind and respectful of others, that didn't necessarily mean he was fit to stay. Many of them believed that Yusuke should be expelled from the Order and Masters Shi, Finn, and Haruka agreed with that belief.

"I just don't understand," Master Finn said as he gently placed his hand upon his face. "Why does the Grand Master persist on keeping him along?"

"Who knows," Haruka looked on and watched as Yusuke was knocked down by a student who was much younger than himself. "Even if the Grand Master took him in as his son, I didn't think he would be this lenient. It's almost as if he's babying the boy."

"Maybe the Grand Master is…"

Just as Master Shi was about to say something, the instructor suddenly stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a presence slowly beginning to approach him and the others. When Masters Finn and Haruka also noticed the presence, all three of them proceeded to bow as a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his 50's walked passed them. His name was Ren Sakamoto and he's the Order of the Claw's Grand Master, as well as Yusuke and Kyoji's adoptive father.

Being the Grand Master, Ren not only had the highest level of authority within the Order of the Claw, but the highest amount of respect as well. His incredible skill as a fighter is only matched, if not surpassed, by his incredible wisdom. As a result, everyone within the order showed him the upmost respect, as they knew that despite his kindness, Ren wasn't someone to be trifled with.

As Ren looked on at all of the students present, he was quite pleased with the results that he was seeing, especially when it came to Ryan and Alexis. Although he was also quite satisfied with Kyoji's skill as well, the wise Master wasn't pleased at how rough he was when it came to wielding his Black Lion Spirit. Not only that, but Ren didn't like the fact that his adoptive son would gloat about his victories, something found to be very concerning.

Upon turning his focus towards the Cubs, Ren was also happy with their development as well, but he was most pleased with his other son, Yusuke. Even though all of the students, and even most of the other Masters, considered him to be a failure, Ren knew that his son was something special. What he lacked in strength and skill, he made up for in kindness and humility. It's for these reasons that the Grand Master knew that Yusuke is destined to be something great and that would happen very soon.

Eventually, after letting all the students practice for a little while longer, Ren soon made his presence known to all of them. Upon seeing the Grand Master, all the students present stopped whatever they were doing and immediately lined up in front of him. They then all bowed at him, showing the Grand Master the respect that he's earned over his decades of service to the Order of the Claw. In return, Ren bowed before his students, showing them the same level of respect.

"Young ones," He started off. "I am quite pleased with the progress that all of you are making. Every day you prove your devotion to not only to the Order, but to your training as well. You all have much to be proud of."

Upon hearing the Grand Master's words of approval, almost all the students felt a strong sense of accomplishment for everything that they've been doing. All of them have worked very hard to get to where they are now and to hear the Grand Master congratulate them like he did was something special. They then continued listening as Ren prepared to tell them about the real reason why he's before all of them today.

"Now listen, young ones. A special evaluation will take place tomorrow in which only 3 of you will be chosen to perform a special task. Although I cannot inform you what that task might be, I assure that it's of the upmost importance. As a result, you are free to spend the rest of the day preparing yourselves mentally and physically for the evaluation. Good luck to all of you."

Ren ended his speech by firmly raising his fist to about where his shoulder was. This was the salute of the Order of the Claw and is one of the few things that any new member learns on their first day. When the students saw the salute, all of them immediately stood at attention and presented it towards the Grand Master. Once that was done, they all left to prepare for the trials that would take place next day.

As he was walking around with a towel over his head, Yusuke looked around and saw that many of the other students were either talking about him or laughing at him behind his back. Although he's spent most of his life having to deal with this type of abuse, it was still something that he disliked. However, Yusuke couldn't truly blame the other students for their mistreatment of him as a part of him knew that he was at fault too. If he was a better warrior then the others wouldn't be so dismissive of him. It's because of these negative feelings that he has about himself that Yusuke can't hate those individuals who think less of him.

While pondering all of these things, the young man noticed something going on in the distance. At first, he didn't want to pay any mind to it, but that opinion changed after got a good luck at what was going on. Yusuke saw that a small group of upperclassmen were busy messing with another one of the cubs. Although something like this was common, the fact remained that Yusuke hated it when people would pick on those weaker than themselves, especially since he goes through it himself. Because of that, Yusuke decided to do something about it and proceeded to make his way over to the other students.

"H…Hey…!" He called, stuttering at first. "Leave him alone!"

Upon hearing someone call out to all of them, the upperclassmen all turned around and saw that it was Yusuke. Although they were shocked for a moment, the group of bullies soon started laughing hysterically. Just hearing their laughter unnerved Yusuke a little bit, but tried his best to get over it. He then watched as one of the upperclassmen, Tyson Smith, begins making his way towards him.

"Or what…you'll stop us?" Tyson laughed. "I would like to see you try, failure."

Tyson soon reached Yusuke, using his superior height to try and intimidate him. At first, this seemed to work as Yusuke was quickly becoming nervous due to the massive size and strength of the bully. However, after taking a few seconds to catch his breath and relax his muscles, Yusuke regained his composure and soon stood up against Tyson. However, this act only caused the bully to start laughing some more.

"Wow…I see you haven't wet your pants yet. I guess I'll just have to remedy that."

In one swift strike, Tyson punched Yusuke right in the gut, causing all the air to suddenly escape his body. As the young man fell to knees and started gasping for air, Tyson followed up with his assault with a sharp kick to the back of Yusuke's head. Upon seeing the damage that was being done, the other upperclassmen decided to get on the fun and promptly turned their attention away from the Cub. Now all the bullies were pummeling Yusuke, not letting up on him for a second.

As this was going on, Yusuke silently turned his attention towards the Cub that the bullies were just messing with. Despite the amount of pain that he was in, the young man had enough awareness to silently inform the younger student to leave while before the upperclassmen came back. Upon realizing this, the Cub slowly nodded his head before taking the time to run away from the scene. Now the only ones left were Yusuke and the bullies and it soon became obvious that the former was completely overwhelmed.

Eventually, after being slammed onto the concrete floor, a beaten and battered Yusuke slowly looked up and saw Tyson and the other bullies standing on top of him. As he saw the devilish smiles that were on their faces, he tried his best to will himself back to his feet. Unfortunately, he simply didn't have the strength to do so. Because of that, there was nothing Yusuke could do as the bullies prepared to put him out of his misery.

"Don't feel so bad," Tyson told him. "I'll make it quick…by obliterating you with the full power of my Animal Spirit!"

After taking some swift motions, Tyson's arms started glowing, indicating that he was about to unleash the power of his Animal Spirit. Because he didn't have any strength, the only thing Yusuke could do was close his eyes and brace himself for what was to come. However, before anything could happen to him, the roar of a powerful lion could be heard coming from a distance. Then, from completely out of nowhere, the claw of the Black Lion Spirit suddenly struck Tyson and sent him flying. When the other upperclassmen saw this they turned around and, with fear on their faces, saw that Kyoji was behind them.

Before they could explain themselves, Kyoji quickly attacked all of the bullies, even going so far to break a few of their bones. It was a vicious display of power and when Yusuke finally got up and saw what was going on, the young man became frighten by the strength of his big brother. Once the battle was over and the bullies were seen running away in fear, Kyoji then turned his attention towards Yusuke and began walking towards his little brother.

"Thanks…big brother…" Yusuke said with a small smile on his face. "I really owe you…one."

Upon seeing the smile that was on his little brother's face, Kyoji started glaring at him for a moment before punching right in the face. The force of the blow was so great that it sent Yusuke flying into a nearby wall. Once that happened, Kyoji proceeded to grab him by his collar and looked at him almost like he was going kill him.

"Don't be thanking me you little shit!" He told him in a firm tone of voice. "I don't have time to be babying a failure like you all the time!"

Kyoji beat around Yusuke for a little bit longer, the force of his blows causing the younger brother to spit up a lot of blood. Once he finished making his point, Kyoji dropped Yusuke back on the ground and began making his leave. However, before he left, the wielder of the Black Lion Spirit turned around and gave his brother one last message.

"If I have to come and save your ass again…you're going to wish that you were never born."

With that, Kyoji left the scene and Yusuke now all alone, trying his best not to cry while so many other people were watching. As he slowly picked himself off of the ground, Yusuke failed to notice that Grand Master Ren was busy looking at him and Kyoji from a good distance away.

* * *

Later on that evening, Yusuke was busy sitting around in his room at the temple's main dojo. As he tended to the injuries that he received from both the bullies and his older brother, the young man tried his best not to let the pain bother him. However, it wasn't physical pain that was bothering him, but emotional pain. Not only was he not able to defend himself, but his big brother had to come and help him out too. Also, to make matters worse, Kyoji went to beat Yusuke because he was tired fighting his battles. These problems weighed heavily on Yusuke's soul, especially the part about his big brother.

Although Kyoji was very hard on his younger brother, having no problem with beating him up if he happened to get on his nerves, Yusuke stilled loved his brother. This is because when they were younger, Kyoji was the one who took care of him after their real parents died in a car crash 10 years ago. Instead of abandoning him, Kyoji stayed by Yusuke's side and took care of his little brother. It was because of this incident that Yusuke can tolerate his brother's cold and abusive behavior, since he knows that he wouldn't even be alive today if it wasn't for him.

Even so, Yusuke wondered why Kyoji was acting so cold and arrogant as of late. When they were kids, he was usually very kind to other people and was not known to show off. This trait continued even when Grand Master Ren adopted both him and Yusuke and the two of them started training within the Order of the Claw. However, as the years passed by and Kyoji's fighting skills grew, he suddenly started to become very cold. Eventually, things came to a head when Kyoji discovered his Black Lion Spirit, going on to attack people with it if they happen to get on his nerves. Yusuke was very worried about his big brother and hoped that his old personality would return soon, but it seems that it will be a long time before it does.

"Big brother…" Yusuke said silently to himself. "Just what on Earth is happening to you?"

Yusuke continued to think about his brother's change in personality for the next several minutes, trying to figure out what caused it. Eventually, he decided to put those thoughts to rest as thinking about it will only cause more problems. With that settled, Yusuke decided to leave his room and make his way over to the kitchen in order to get something to eat. As he walked however, he noticed that a group of people were talking in a room just down the hall. Although he wasn't the type of person to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to see what was going on.

Making his way to the edge of the door, Yusuke listened closely as he began to recognize the voices that he was hearing. They belonged to Grand Master Ren and the other Pai Zhua Masters. All of them were currently having a meeting about who to select after tomorrow's special evaluation. Because of his lack of skill and status as a Cub, Yusuke didn't believe that they would mention him at all. Even so, he wanted to know which other students the masters would select and thus listened closely to their conversation.

"So..." Grand Master Ren said, beginning their discussion. "Who do you believe should be chosen?"

"I believe the answer is quite obvious," Master Haruka answered. "The chosen students should be Alexis, Ryan, and Kyoji. The three of them are by far the best amongst all the others."

"I agree with Haruka," Master Finn followed. "Not only that, but the three of them are wielders of the Legendary Animal Spirits; the Yellow Cheetah, the Blue Jaguar, and the Black Lion. To be perfectly honest, I don't really see the point in this evaluation when we're just going to choose them anyway."

"…I will admit that all three of them are exceptionally skilled," Ren closed his eyes for a moment and started thinking to himself. Once he reopened them, he focused his attention on all of the other masters. "However…this evaluation is far more than just skill or what Animal Spirit they happen to possess. It's about whether they are worthy to take on the responsibility that will be expected of them. All of you should know…having gone through it yourselves."

Masters Finn and Haruka thought about what Grand Master Ren said to them very closely. The both of them knew that Ren was right and that this evaluation was much more than seeing who was the strongest. The 3 students who will be selected must also have exceptional qualities that make them stand out amongst the rest. Even so, the masters believed that Kyoji, Ryan, and Alexis had those qualities and then some, due to the fact that the Animal Spirits they wield are extremely rare and powerful, even amongst the strongest Pai Zhua Masters. If that wasn't a sign, they didn't know what is.

As the two masters continued to voice their opinion to the Grand Master, Ren noticed that Master Shi remained silent. He could tell right away that his mind was focused on something other than what was being discussed. Although he is normally respectful to other people's thoughts, the expression that he saw on Shi's face caused some concern within Ren, prompting him to speak up.

"Is something the matter, Master Shi?" He asked. "You seem to be lost in thought?"

"It's nothing Grand Master…" Shi answered. "I've just been thinking about your other son…Yusuke. I think it's time we've truly considered if he has a place in the Order."

Ren wasn't surprised to hear this coming from Master Shi. After all, out of all of the masters present, Shi was the one who was the most vocal about having Yusuke in the Order. Having been around for many decades, the Master has watched as many other students have steadily progressed through the ranks, slowly but surely becoming masters themselves. However, that wasn't the case with Yusuke. Ever since he joined the Order of the Claw, his skills haven't improved a bit. Not only that, but his poor development not only brings shame to himself, but to the Order as well, which Master Shi could not tolerate.

"Listen Grand Master…" Shi continued. "I know you say that Yusuke is someone special, but just because you say so doesn't mean he's going to show it."

"Do you doubt my belief in my son, Shi?" Ren asked in a somewhat stern tone of voice.

"Of…of course not," Shi was becoming frighten by the way Ren just spoke to him, but he stood his ground. "All I'm saying is that the boy's skills haven't really amounted to much. Look at him…he's been training for around 7 years and is still a Cub. All the other students that he used to train with during that time have all grown up to be exceptional fighters. Even if you think highly of him Grand Master…that doesn't mean he'll become the warrior that you want him to be."

"…Forgive me Grand Master, but I have to agree with Master Shi."

Ren turned his attention to Haruka, who had her head down and her eyes closed. Although she was quite young to be a master, only being in her late 20s, her skills and wisdom were a cut above the rest. As a result, anything that Master Haruka had to say should be taken very seriously and the Grand Master knew that quite well. To that end, Ren listened closely as Haruka opened her eyes and followed up on her statement.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Grand Master," She started off. "Yusuke is a very kind soul and has a lot of wisdom for someone his age. Nevertheless…just having those qualities alone doesn't make you qualified to be a part of the Order."

"That's true," Master Finn said, also entering the conversation. "Not only that, but the boy hasn't even been able to manifest his Animal Spirit. Never in the history of the Order has a student done that, especially after being a member for as long as he has. If he can't even do that…then I don't see a reason why he should even be here."

Grand Master Ren remained silent as he thought about the shared opinions that Shi, Haruka, and Finn all had about his son. While it was clear that none of them hated the boy on a personal level, it was also clear that they believed his lack of skill was bringing shame to the Order of the Claw. In order to be a member, one must be strong in both mind and body and although Yusuke was somewhat proficient in the first category, his skill in the second was nonexistent. As a result, the 3 Masters wanted him to be expelled from the Order and although he didn't want to admit it, they did have valid points.

Before they could say anything however, Ren heard something coming from behind the door. Turning quickly, the Grand Master noticed that something was leaving the area, after taking the time to overhear the conversation that was taking place. While this would normally anger him, Ren already knew who the individual was and why he left when he did. Because of that, he simply let out a small sigh before turning his attention back towards the other masters, who were waiting for his response.

"We'll determine Yusuke's place in the Order tomorrow," He told them. "For now, prepare yourselves for the evaluation. Remember…we mustn't choose the students who are most powerful, but who has the strength of heart to carry out the duties that we give to them."

"Yes Grand Master," Replied Shi, Haruka, and Finn.

Once the discussion was over, the masters all bowed at one another before leaving the room and going their separate ways. After making sure they were all gone, Ren left as well and began making their way to the Grand Hall. As he walked towards it, the Grand Master could hear someone grunting and stumbling around the room. Knowing that the person who was making all that noise was the same one who spied on him and the other masters, Ren simply let out a small smile before silently entering the Grand Hall.

Upon entering, Ren watched as Yusuke was trying his best to train himself with a wooden sword. From the way he was moving around, swinging his sword without any type of form or balance, it was clear that the young man was having a hard time getting it down. Not only that, but the fact that he was holding the sword wrong didn't help things either. Eventually, after Yusuke started stumbling around again and ends up landing face first on the ground, the Grand Master began walking towards his adoptive son.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

Yusuke slowly picked himself up from off the ground and saw that his father was busy looking down at him. However, upon seeing him, a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face and he instantly sat back down on his knees and bowed towards him. Although Ren was his adoptive father, it didn't change the fact that he was the Grand Master of the Order and Yusuke needed to show him the upmost respect. After seeing his son bow before him, Ren gave a small bow towards him before sitting down as well.

"It's okay, my son," He told him. "Now tell me…why are you up so late? Shouldn't you be preparing for tomorrow?

"I…I just wanted to get some practice in," Yusuke hesitantly replied. "I don't want to be known as a slacker…"

"Is that right…So this doesn't have to do with anything you heard me and the other masters say during our meeting?"

Upon hearing his father say that to him, Yusuke's eyes suddenly widened. He then looked towards Ren who gave him a light smile, indicating that he knew that his son was listening in on their conversation. However, instead of smiling in return, Yusuke started frown. He overheard everything that the masters had to say this evening, including the opinions that Master Shi, Finn, and Haruka all had about having him continue on within the Order of the Claw. Their words hurt a lot, so much so that tears started to form around his eyes and Yusuke started to cry.

Ever since he first joined the Order of the Claw, Yusuke has worked hard every day in order to become as strong as his big brother, Kyoji. He wanted to be a hero who helps other people just like he and, more famously, the famous heroes known as the Power Rangers do. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he'd tried, Yusuke's skills haven't improved in the least. Not only that, but he can't even defend himself when it comes to an actual fight, proving to everyone just how worthless he is. As a result, Yusuke couldn't help but cry, since he knew that the masters had every right to expel him.

"What am I even doing here?" He asked himself. "…I'm no fighter. Heck…I can't even bring forth my Animal Spirit. I don't belong here, father. You should just expel me…so that I'm not a burden to you and the others."

Yusuke continue crying as his emotions were getting the better of him. As he watched him do so, Ren looked on at his son and saw just how much pain and frustration he's been keeping to himself. Ever since he and his elder brother were first brought into the order, Yusuke has tried his best not to be a burden to others. Although his attempts to do so haven't always been successful, the fact that he tries to do so is still admirable and something the Grand Master respected. Because of that, Ren let out another small smile before going on to rub the top of Yusuke's head.

"Tell me something, Yusuke," He started off. "Have you ever heard the legend of the first Pai Zhua Master, Asura?"

"Um…Yeah," Yusuke answered, quickly wiping his tears. "Wasn't he the wielder of the strongest Animal Spirit; the Red Tiger."

"That's right, my son. However, despite the fact that he had the power of the strongest Animal Spirit, Asura wasn't strong right away. As a matter of fact, the legends say that he was kind of a lost cause at first."

Yusuke's eyes quickly widen upon hearing Ren say this. Throughout all the stories he's heard about the great and powerful Asura, not one hinted at the fact that he was some sort of failure. He was always portrayed to be a brave and strong hero, one who defeat any enemy and stand up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves. So, the fact that he was once considered to be a lost cause really threw him for a loop. He then continued to listen in as Ren went on with his story.

"Ever since he was a little boy, Asura has always had a strong bond to the animals around him," Ren said. "It was through this powerful connection that he was not only able to communicate with them, but also channel their spirits through himself, becoming far more powerful. However, in the beginning, Asura had a very hard time in channeling the power of Animal Spirits. The process was so draining that there were several occasions that he nearly lost his life trying to do so. As time passed by and no results were being made, the people of his village started to believe that what he was doing was pointless."

"But…if that was the case…how did he become as powerful as the legends say he is?" Yusuke asked.

"That's quite simple…he never gave up," Ren gently petted the stop of Yusuke's spiky hair. "Asura knew very well that if he gave in to what other people think about him, then he would truly lose. He knew that believing in one's self can grant you abilities that you never knew you possessed. It's because of this faith and strong dedication that he was finally able to channel the power of his Animal Spirits and eventually become stronger, both as a warrior and as a person."

Ren continued petting Yusuke's head as he compared the similarities that his adoptive son has with the legendary Pai Zhua Master. Both of them were incredibly kind to other people and are willing to work hard, despite the fact that they might fail at what they're doing. Even if other people consider Yusuke to be a failure and should be expelled from the Order, he believed in his son's potential and knew he would become someone great. That's why he doesn't Yusuke to lose faith in himself, because that would mean that everyone who has doubted him would be proven right.

"Listen Yusuke," He said as he picked himself up. "Don't let what people say change who you are. If you believe in yourself, then a whole type of power will suddenly awaken inside of you."

"New type of power…?" Yusuke questioned. "What type of power?"

"That is something you'll have to discover on your own. However…I have a feeling that it will appear sooner than you think."

With that said, Ren said good-bye to his son and left the Grand Hall, leaving Yusuke all alone to ponder everything that he just heard. It was a lot to take in and even though his father had faith in him and his abilities, Yusuke still had his doubts. In the end, he decided to wait and see what happens during tomorrow's student evaluations. However, as he prepared himself to head back to his room, Yusuke was unaware that his older brother Kyoji was spying on him, his face covered with a fearsome expression.

The next day, all the students gathered around in the main training hall and began participating in special one-on-one matches that was each observed by a Pai Zhua Master. The purpose of this evaluation was to not only see how strong each student was on the inside, but to also see how powerful they were on the inside. Not only that, but the masters who were observing the matches were instructed to see how strong of a bond each student had with their respective Animal Spirit. It was this criteria in particular that would be truly crucial in the master's final decision.

As he watched the matches that were going on, Yusuke was highly impressed by what he was seeing out of all of the other students. This was especially true when it came to Alexis Hampton and Ryan Cross, the wielders of the Yellow Cheetah and the Blue Jaguar respectively. The battles that they competed in were something to behold and despite the fact that they were around the same age as them, Yusuke knew that he didn't hold a candle to them. Despite that though, he didn't hold that against himself as he knew when he was beat. The young man hoped that when the masters make their selection, that they would pick Ryan and Alexis, just like they talked about last night.

However, as he continued to watch several more matches that were taking place, Yusuke wasn't able to find his big brother anywhere. Due to the way he fights and how he likes to show off the power of his Black Lion Spirit, Yusuke thought it would be easy to find him. But, no matter where he happened to look, he wasn't able to find Kyoji anywhere. As he wondered what was going on, Yusuke hoped that he wouldn't miss his fight before it was his turn to compete. Unfortunately for him however, the time for his battle had already arrived.

"Yusuke Sakamoto…" One of the referees called. "Will Yusuke Sakamoto please make his way over to Block C?"

Upon hearing his name being called, Yusuke jumped up for a second as he was shocked to be chosen so soon. He then started looking around the area one last time, hoping to find his older brother before he left to go to his match. In the end, Yusuke couldn't find Kyoji anywhere and he was becoming worried that something might've happened to him. He soon put his hopes that his brother had simply had his match already and left soon afterwards. With that belief in mind, the young man quickly made his way over to Block C.

Once he arrived, Yusuke waited patiently for his opponent to show up. As he did so, he noticed that a lot of students have started gathering around. Unfortunately, they weren't here to cheer for Yusuke. All of them believed that he was going to lose, no matter how hard he tried to fight. Instead, the students were here to not only cheer for his opponent, but to also watch the beat down that he was going to inflict on Yusuke. Because of that, Yusuke started sweating nervously as he tried to prepare himself for the fight. Eventually, when his opponent did show up, Yusuke's fear and nervousness only grew as he recognized the opponent he was up against.

"K…Kyoji…?" Yusuke questioned in disbelief.

"That's right," Kyoji answered for a fiendish smile on his face. "I hope you're ready for the biggest ass kicking of your life…you little shit!"

For a moment, Yusuke's heart felt like it skipped a few beats. Out all the students that were here, the one person that he did not want to fight was his older brother, Kyoji. Even after all the things that he puts him through and how little he thinks of him, Yusuke still loved and respected his big brother and found it difficult that he would have to fight him. However, didn't feel the same way as his little brother and had absolutely no problem fighting him. Because, the wielder of the Black Lion Spirit took his stance and watched as Yusuke hesitantly did the same.

"Don't be so scared Yusuke…" Kyoji sarcastically told him. "I won't hurt you…too bad."

Once Kyoji said that, the referee started the match between the two brothers. Kyoji then quickly dashed towards his younger brother began the contest with a swift barrage of punches. During the assault, Yusuke tried his best to avoid all of them blows by either dodging or blocking. For the most part, he was able to avoid the blows, but he knew the only reason why he was able to do so is because Kyoji was holding back, playing around with him. He knew that things would only get worse and they did once Kyoji began his next attack.

Sweeping his feet from under him, Kyoji watched as his brother started falling towards the ground. However, instead of letting him hit the floor, Kyoji grabbed Yusuke by his fighting dogi and promptly threw him across the battlefield. He then followed this up with a strong kick to the ribs, sending Yusuke flying even further. As he skidded across the ground, Yusuke glanced over to Kyoji and saw that he was enjoying the pain that he was inflicting upon him.

"Get up, you little shit!" Kyoji told him. "Get up so that I can put you back down!"

Yusuke struggled to get back up, but Kyoji's kick to his rips knocked all the wind out of him, making it hard for the Cub to rise. When he saw that, Kyoji promptly walked over towards his brother and immediately grabbed him by his hair. He then started pulling on it, inflicting even more pain onto his opponent. Even so, Kyoji didn't care and simply silenced Yusuke's cries of pain with several more jabs into his stomach. He then started dangling Yusuke by his hair again, watching as a combination of both blood and saliva started pouring out of his mouth.

As all the students watched what was taking place, all of them were completely shocked by what they were seeing. They all believed that the match wouldn't last too long and that Yusuke wouldn't able to do much against the powerful Kyoji. However, what surprised the students so much was the brutality that was taking place. Despite Yusuke's best attempts to try and mount some sort of offense, Kyoji would easily counter and retaliate with fierce attacks. Blood was spilling everywhere and all the students who were observing the contest were quickly becoming disturbed by what they were seeing.

Eventually, Kyoji decided to end this contest once and for all by taking Yusuke by his waist and, after lifting him on his shoulders, slamming him hard on the ground. The force of the move was so great, that the impact caused cracks to appear on the ground. After that happened, Kyoji turned himself around and got ready to leave. But, just as he was about to do so, the young man started to hear something from behind him. When he did, Kyoji was shocked to see that Yusuke was slowly rising to his feet.

"What's wrong with you, dumbass?!" He questioned. "Did that last move knock what little brains you had in your head?!"

Yusuke wasn't entirely aware why he was getting back up to his feet. Personally, he would've liked to stay back on the ground and let his big brother be declared the winner. He didn't want to fight Kyoji at first, but a part of him felt that he had to fight him now. Something was clearly wrong with his big brother and he wanted to know what it was, even if it means taking all this punishment.

While Yusuke continued to struggle to his feet, Kyoji soon started seething from the mouth. Just seeing his little brother, the biggest failure in the entire Order of the Claw, continue rising to his feet bothered him to no end. His anger soon reached the point that Kyoji's Black Lion Spirit was beginning to emerge from his body. When the Pai Zhua Master watching the match saw this, all of them looked on with concerned looks on their faces. They were about to do something, but they stopped once they saw Kyoji reign in his Animal Spirit. After that, Kyoji went on to grab Yusuke by his hair again.

"Give up, loser!" He yelled right into his face. "Do you honestly believe that you can defeat me?! Do you?!"

"…Wh…what's…wrong with…you…?" Yusuke started coughing up blood as he tried speaking to his brother. "What happened…to my….big brother? Why are you…like this? This isn't…you!"

"…You son of a bitch!" Kyoji's body started erupting with a black aura as the power of his Black Lion Spirit started to manifest itself again. "Don't you dare talk…LIKE YOU KNOW ME?"

Just as Kyoji hit him with another fierce blow to his stomach, Yusuke unconsciously protected himself by placing his hands out in front of him. The attack still sent him flying and caused him to feel an intense amount of pain, but it wasn't enough to knock him out of the match. When Kyoji saw this, his anger suddenly reached a new level. He then decided to put an end to this farce of a contest once and for all.

"Father thinks that you're a lot like Asura…but he's sadly mistaken!" He said as he began moving his hands around. "I'll prove it…by sending you to Hell with the power of my Animal Spirit! Prepare to die…YOU FAILURE!"

Once Kyoji said that, Yusuke watched as his big brother started unleashing the power of his Animal Spirit. When the Black Lion suddenly appeared and set his sights on him, Yusuke slowly rose to his feet. He then started thinking about what Grand Master Ren told him last night about Asura and his supposed status as a failure. He then took the time to think about what Kyoji and all the other students and masters tend to think of him as…a failure.

Just thinking about all those things, and the way his older brother was treating him, caused something to snap within Yusuke. He felt an intense amount of anger and frustration swell up inside of him, so much so that a bright red aura started to appear around his bed. When all the Pai Zhua Masters saw this, all of them were highly confused by what they were seeing…all except Ren that is. The Grand Master recognized that aura and so, as he watched Kyoji unleash his Black Lion Spirit towards Yusuke, Ren watched with a look of anticipation on his face.

"I…I am not…A FAILURE!"

The red aura that was surrounding Yusuke suddenly exploded like a volcano. It then quickly started changing shape until it took the form of a giant red tiger. It was several times bigger than Kyoji's Black Lion Spirit and several times more powerful too. The tiger then went on to deflect the lion's attack and, at Yusuke's subconscious command, struck it and Kyoji with one powerful blow with its claw. The attack was so great that it sent Kyoji flying through the crowd and causing him to crash into a stone wall.

Once that happened, the powerful red tiger let out an ear deafening roar before suddenly disappearing into Yusuke's body. After that, the young man fell to his knees, completely exhausted after pulling off whatever he just managed to do. As he did so, all the Pai Zhua Masters were speechless as they knew what Animal Spirit that Yusuke just managed to summon.

"…Impossible," Master Shi said. "How can…how can a boy like him have it?"

"But he does have it…" Master Finn followed. "He has the strongest Legendary Spirit…"

"Asura's personal Animal Spirit…" Master Haruka said in astonishment. "The Red Tiger…"

By the time Kyoji finally managed to regain his senses, the young man saw that his little brother was completely exhausted and no longer had to strength to fight anymore. He then looked down towards the floor and saw blood, his blood. Just seeing it caused the anger that he was feeling to turn into pure hatred. Not only did his little brother deflect the power of his Black Lion Spirit, but he also caused him to bleed. That was a sin that Kyoji couldn't accept and soon rushed over towards Yusuke, attending to attack him in a blind fury.

Fortunately, before Kyoji could land his attack, all the Pai Zhua Masters, lead by Grand Master Ren, suddenly stepped in and stopped him. Once they were sure that he could no longer move, Ren stared at his adoptive son, disappointed at what he attempted to do. He then walked over towards Yusuke and went on to help his other son back to his feet.

"This match is over," He said calmly. "The winner of the match is Yusuke."

After declaring Yusuke the winner of the match, Ren handed his youngest son over to one of the other masters, who was still shocked by what they saw from the young man. However, no one was more shocked by what just happened than Yusuke himself. He was never able to produce that type of power before and wondered how he was able to bring it forth. Before he could ask anyone about it though, Yusuke looked up and saw that the Grand Master was about to speak.

"Congratulations to all of you who won your matches," He started off. "However…the purpose of today's fights was to not only test your physical skills, but to test your hearts and your connection with your respective Animal Spirits. Later on today, I will call 3 students to meet with me. Until then, you're dismissed for the rest of the day."

Once that was said, Grand Master Ren left the area along with Masters Shi, Haruka, and Finn. As they watched them leave, Yusuke turned his attention back towards Kyoji and saw that he was being released by the masters that were holding him. Reluctantly, Kyoji agreed to back off, but he was still furious about what happened. Before he left the area, the young man turned towards his younger brother and gave him a menacing glare. When he saw that glare, shivers were sent down Yusuke's spine as he once again wondered what was wrong with his big brother.

"Kyoji…"

* * *

Sometime later, as all the other students were busy doing their own thing, Yusuke was busy sitting on down on one of the benches in the hall. Thanks to the beating he received early, his face was covered in a lot of bruises and was hurting quite a bit. However, thanks to some herbal remedies that were given to him by some of the doctors, the pain was beginning to subside and his wounds were starting to heal. As he sat there, the young man starting thinking about that power he summoned again and what it could mean.

After a few minutes of waiting, Yusuke started hear some noise coming from behind him. When he turned around, he saw both Alexis Hampton and Ryan Cross beginning to make their way over to him. When the two of them saw the Cub, both of them were confused by why he was here in the hall as they were told to come here too. In the end, neither side said anything to each other and simply sat down on opposite ends of the hallway. There was an eerie silence for a quite a while, with Ryan taking quick glances at Yusuke every so often. Eventually, the wielder of the Blue Jaguar turned towards Alexis.

"…I don't get it," He said to her. "Where's Kyoji? And why is that failure here?!"

Yusuke cringed when heard Ryan call him a failure. When Alexis saw this, the young woman let out a light sigh before taking her hand and slapping the back of Ryan's head. She then got up from her seat and gave her childhood friend a slight glare.

"You dummy…" She said. "Don't you ever listen to yourself?"

Alexis walked away from Ryan and made her way to the bench Yusuke was sitting on. Just having her near him caused his heart to start beating rapidly. Ever since he first met her, Yusuke has had a slight crush on Alexis due to how strong and beautiful she was. He tried his best to keep calm and to not say anything stupid, but the young woman was the first to strike up a conversation.

"Sorry about my friend," She said with a friendly smile on her face. "Don't mind him…he just doesn't know when to shut up."

"It's…it's okay…" Yusuke replied hesitantly. "I don't mind…"

Alexis noticed how nervous Yusuke was and how he was trying his best not to sound like an idiot. While she believed that he was trying too hard and that he needed to relax, Alexis understood what he was feeling due to her knowing that Yusuke is an outcast. Because of that, she wanted to be as nice to him as possible and show him that she wasn't like the others.

"My name is Alexis," She started off. "I saw your match earlier today. I was quite impressed by what you did out there."

"Um…thank you," Yusuke said. "My name is Yusuke…and it wasn't anything special. I don't even know how I managed to do it."

"Well…regardless if you did it on purpose or not, it was still an incredible sight to behold. You should be proud of yourself."

As Yusuke and Alexis continued on with their conversation, Ryan looked on at the two of them with an irritating look on his face. He always knew that Alexis was very nice to others, but he couldn't understand why she would take the time to talk to someone like Yusuke, the resident failure. Even if he managed to defeat Kyoji by some type of sheer luck, it didn't really change the fact that he was the weakest student in the Order. He was about to say something, but stopped when both he and the others noticed someone else coming.

The person was none other than Grand Master Ren, who immediately presented himself in front of the 3 students. Upon seeing him, Yusuke and the others immediately stood up and bowed towards the Grand Master. As soon as that was settled, Grand Master Ren looked at all three of them with a serious expression on his face before finally speaking.

"Come with me,"

After saying those 3 simple words, the Grand Master started walking away to an unknown destination. Although Yusuke and the others were hesitant to follow, all of them decided to trust in the master's judgment and followed after him. Eventually, all of them reached the Grand Hall of the temple and Ren proceeded to press a secret button that was placed within the floorboard. When he did that, a hidden passageway opened up and everyone quickly walked down through it.

By the time they reached the bottom of the pathway, Ren walked towards a box that was busy sitting on a stone table. In front of him was a special cave carving that depicted a battle that took placed thousands of years ago. While the Grand Master continued to look at the box, the students were busy looking around the room they were in, both confused and amazed by what they were seeing.

"What is this place…?" Yusuke asked. "I've been here almost all my life, but I've never seen this before."

"This is the Forbidden Room," Grand Master Ren answered. "For thousands of years this room has contained the very reason why the Order the Claw even exists."

Ren turned around to face the students, holding the mysterious box in his arms. As they looked at it, Yusuke, Alexis, and Ryan soon felt a cold shiver race through their entire body. There was something about this box that just scared the hell out of them, but they didn't know why. Before one of them could ask about it, the Grand Master started talking again.

"Before I continue, there's something you need to know," He started off. "Earlier today, Kyoji Sakamoto was expelled from the Order. In your hearts, you should know why."

The three students were utterly shocked upon hearing the news that Kyoji was expelled. He was arguably the best student at the Order with no one being able to come close to him in terms of sheer power and skill. Yusuke, Alexis, and Ryan had a feeling that it was Kyoji's major attitude problems that resulted in his expulsion, especially after what happened today. Even so, none of them thought that he would kicked out over something like that. As they continued to think about that, Ren went on with his explanation.

"Ryan and Alexis," He said as he turned towards them. "Both of you are skilled warriors and are exceptionally in tuned with your respective Animal Spirits, the Blue Jaguar and the Yellow Cheetah." Ren then turned towards Yusuke. "Yusuke…while you may not be the strongest fighter, you have the heart to stand up for others. You also have the potential to be the greatest Pai Zhua Master to ever live, as you possess the same Animal Spirit that the first Grand Master had; the Red Tiger. It's for these reasons that I've chosen you 3…to carry out this specific task."

"What task…?" Alexis asked him. "Does it have something…to do with that box?"

The Grand Master nodded his head before turning around and directing his attention into the stone carvings. When Alexis and the others started looking at it too, the three students analyzed it to the best of their ability. Like before, they could tell that tell the tale of an ancient battle and even though they couldn't tell exactly what the battle was about, it still felt very familiar to all of them.

"Long ago…there was an ancient evil known as Dai Shi," Ren stated. "Dai Shi believed that animals should be the dominant species on the planet and that all humans should be killed. However, several Pai Zhua Masters, led by the great Grand Master Asura, channeled the power of their respective Animal Spirits in order to combat Dai Shi and his darkness. This battle became known as…the Beast War. In the end, Asura managed to defeat Dai Shi at the cost of his life and imprison him inside of a special box…the very same one that I'm holding in my arms right now."

Ryan and Alexis turned their focus from the cave carvings and back towards the box. They then realized that the reasons why they felt that cold shiver run through their bodies was because they were sensing Dai Shi's evil, which was seeping from the box. Even though the demon was sealed away, they could still feel its evil and although they tried to keep their cool about it, both of them were very afraid.

"Ryan, Yusuke, Alexis…the Pai Zhua, the Order of the Claw, was founded to protect the world the Dai Shi and evil. It is for this reason that special guardians have been selected over the centuries, tasked with the overwhelming responsibility of keeping the evil that's contained within this box sealed away. Now…the time has come for the 3 of you to carry on that legacy."

"…This…this has to be some mistake!" Yusuke spoke up. "Master…there's no way that I can do this…"

Ren, Alexis, and Ryan turned towards Yusuke and saw that he sweating all over as a frightened look appeared on his face. It was completely understandable, given the task that was just thrust upon his shoulders, but it was more than that. Even if he does have the same Animal Spirit that the great warrior Asura had, that doesn't mean he could use it the same way. Also, Yusuke still had major doubts about his own abilities and felt that he was not up for the task.

"Master…Dad…you've got the wrong guy," He continued. "I'm not strong enough or good enough…to do this. Please, just get Kyoji. He may be kind of a jerk, but he's more qualified than…"

Before Yusuke could finish his sentence, someone suddenly came from behind and knocked him towards the ground. As Alexis walked over to help him up, it was quickly revealed that the person in question was none other than Kyoji. The former student was highly upset over his recent expulsion from the Order and wanted to take out his frustrations on the one person who was responsible, his adoptive father.

However, even though Kyoji was glaring at him with the intent of striking him down, Ren was not impressed in the least. He always knew that he had a major superiority complex, but he never thought he would go so far and try and destroy his little brother. The Grand Master was considering about expelling him much sooner, but he wanted to hold on to the hope that Kyoji would change his way. Unfortunately, after what happened today, that wasn't the case at all.

"What are you doing here, Kyoji?" He questioned. "I thought I told you to leave."

"I'm not leaving until I get answers!" Kyoji shouted. "You know damn well that I'm the best student here with the strongest Animal Spirit! You just can't kick me out for no reason!"

"That's true…but I do have a reason," Ren turns his back on his son. "Now leave…before you make me do something that I'll regret."

Kyoji started seething after hearing Ren say that, so much so that a dark aura started surround his body again as his Black Lion Spirit started to manifest itself. Despite that however, the Grand Master didn't look back and simply waited for his son to leave. Soon enough, Kyoji struck out and was about to strike at his father for what he's done. However, just before his attack landed, Ren caught Kyoji blow and swiftly knocked him back. Kyoji quickly got back up to his feet and soon, a massive fight broke out between the two warriors.

As Yusuke and the others looked on, Kyoji used every skill and technique that he had in his disposal in order to try and overcome the Grand Master. However, despite his best attempts, the young man couldn't break through Ren's defenses. To make matters worse, Ren was only using one hand to block as he was using his other hand to carry the box that contained Dai Shi. Eventually, the Grand Master grew tired of this nonsense and proceeded to place two fingers onto Kyoji's chest. Then, with just those two fingers, he pushed his back, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Foolish boy…" Ren said to his fallen student. "If you can't even see why I expelled you…then then it was a mistake on my part to ever teach you how to fight."

Kyoji glared at Ren as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. Yusuke, who was conflicted about seeing his father and big brother fighting each other, tried to get the two of them to stop. However, all he got was a punch in the guy by Kyoji for his troubles. After watching him fall to his knees in agony, Kyoji turned his attention towards Yusuke for a moment and started thinking about how Ren always spent more time with his little brother instead of with him. Just thinking about that caused even more rage to appear on his face.

"What I can't see…?" He said as he slowly got back to his feet. "Is how you always spoil that piece of shit over there?! I've trained hard every single day, trying my damndest to earn you respect…but you care about is Yusuke, that failure! Why don't you just admit it! You always considered him to be the better son…DIDN'T YOU?!"

Ren didn't reply to Kyoji's statement, but the young man didn't need a response in order to get his answer. He took the Grand Master's silence as his way of saying that he did like Yusuke over him. No matter how hard he worked or what he managed to accomplish, Ren would always consider Kyoji to be lesser of his two sons. That's what Kyoji believed and as he watched Ren turn his back on him again, he vowed to make him pay for that, no matter what the cost.

To that end, Kyoji gathered up as much power that he could from his Animal Spirit and fired it towards Ren in a huge black orb of energy. When the Grand Master saw this, he tried his best to deflect the attack, but it was extremely difficult with just using one arm. Because of that, Ren ended up dropping the box as he managed to drive Kyoji's attack away and, to his utter horror, it opened up as it hit the ground.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen as a dead silence covered the entire area. However, that changed almost immediately as a powerful black mist suddenly exploded from the inside of the box like lava exploding from a volcano. Everyone then looked on as the mist started floating high into the air and began coming to together, transforming until it took form of a demonic looking face. When this mysterious creature got a good look at everyone, especially Grand Master Ren, an evil smile appeared on its face.

" _Finally…I have returned!"_ The demon said as it started to laugh.

Yusuke, Alexis, Ryan and even Kyoji were at a complete loss of words at what they were seeing right now. Never in their short lives have they seen something like this demon before. It was like they were looking at something from the depths of Hell itself. However, Grand Master Ren knew what this creature was and soon started trembling as a result.

"It's you…Dai Shi…"

" _Yes it is puny human,"_ The evil spirit replied as he turned his attention towards the master. _"Now, after over 10,000 years of imprisonment, the time for my revenge has come!"_

With that, Dai Shi instantly attacked Ren, moving so fast that even with all of his knowledge and experience, the Grand Master could do nothing to defend himself. As Yusuke and the others looked on in horror, Kyoji, who couldn't believe what he was seeing, gave in to his fears and quickly left the Forbidden Room. Once he was gone, Dai Shi continued on with assault until finished off Ren and tossed him on top of the table that held the box that he was sealed in. The demon then went on to turn its attention towards the young students, who hesitantly took their battle stances.

Upon seeing all of them do that though, Dai Shi simply let out another demonic laugh. After being sealed away for so long, the demon wanted to take all the anger and frustration that it's felt over the last 10 millennia and release it onto his enemies, not some children who just exited the womb. Because of that, Dai Shi released a dark pulse of energy that sent Yusuke, Ryan, and Alexis crashing into different ends of the room, knocking them all unconscious. Once they were out of the way, Dai Shi proceeded to make its way outside.

At the very instant Dai Shi made it out of the Forbidden Room, everyone outside noticed that the sky was quickly becoming dark. Suddenly, massive storm clouds rolled in and a powerful thunderstorm occurred. It was at that moment that Dai Shi appeared, shocking all of the students and Pai Zhua Masters that were present. The great evil then started laughing at all of them as darkness started spreading from its body, covering the entire area.

" _Behold you foolish creatures…The Age of Animals has finally begun!"_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Preview**_

 _After being imprisoned for more than 10,000 years, Dai Shi is finally free and is ready to resume his quest for global domination. Yusuke, Alexis, and Ryan are assigned with the task of stopping the demon's heinous ambitions, but what can they do after being so easily defeated. In any event, they need to do something soon or else the entire world will once again be at Dai Shi's mercy._

 _Next Time, Chapter 2: A Savage Beginning – Part 2_


End file.
